This was one of my most anticipated books for this year and I was blown away despite my already high expectations. I could not bring myself to put this down for even a moment. The writing was delectable and unrestricted. I would claim that every range of emotion can be found in this story. Despite the fantastical nature of the plot, the dialogue is grounded in reality that leaves the reader wanting more. I was impressed with how pensive, sexy and realistic this book felt to me and I could not recommend it enough!

"Ministry of Time" by Kaliane Bradley is a unique blend of time travel, romance, and espionage that kept me engaged from start to finish. Bradley expertly weaves together various genres, creating a world where time ex-pats from different eras must navigate modern-day life. The humor and well-developed characters, particularly the interactions between the protagonist and Graham, an Arctic explorer from 1847, add depth and charm to the story. Despite the occasional pacing issues, the plot twists and the richly detailed world-building made this a compelling read.

The book balances serious spy elements with light-hearted moments, making it both thrilling and entertaining. The romance is sweet and the social commentary adds an extra layer of intrigue. While the ending felt a bit rushed, the overall experience was highly enjoyable. If you're looking for a clever and humorous time travel adventure with a touch of romance, "Ministry of Time" is definitely worth picking up

Thank you to the author, Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My apologies for the delay in posting this review, I had a bit too much going on.

This is an original combination of genres - science fiction, historical fiction, thriller and romance - and offers an interesting twist on the time travel narrative, seeing how people from the past adapt and assimilate to modern culture. Each time traveller is provided with a modern character as a companion, and the story is told from the POV of one of these companions. I can't say much more without revealing more than I would like, I will say I found this engrossing, confusing and unsettling, and would very much recommend it.

You can tell by reading the summary that "The Ministry of Time" is an odd book. It's kinda like if the movie Kate & Leopold was a spy drama instead of a romantic comedy. Don't get me wrong, "The Ministry of Time" has humor and romance, it just has a lot of other things as well. The book is both fun and frivolous while also being thought-provoking and dark. How does this work? I DON'T KNOW, BUT IT DOES. If you're intrigued by the summary, just give it a try because you may like it.

Do you like movies, books, or shows that feature time travel? I love them! The Ministry of Time is a brand-new time travel novel.

An unnamed civil servant works for the new Ministry of Time in London. She is tasked with helping Graham Gore, an artic explorer from 1847, acclimate to modern times. The ministry plucked five individuals that were going to die from different time periods and brought them back to London in modern times. The time travelers form unlikely friendships with each other as well as their handlers. As the shadowy “general” starts to stalk the time travelers, will they be able to survive in this new time?

My thoughts on this novel:

• The Ministry of Time is a unique blend of sci-fi, historical fiction, mystery, and romance.

• Graham Gore is an actual historic figure that was a part of the ill-fated Franklin expedition. He has a parallel story in the novel narrated by him where he details what happened to him on the expedition. This matches what is known about the real-life expedition. A great note at the end discusses Gore.

• I thought it was interesting that the main character was never named in the novel. She has mixed heritage with an English father and Cambodian mother. This brought some depth to her character. I wanted to learn even more about her.

• I enjoy that time travel makes one think through many moral and ethical quandaries. What gives people the right to “save” people from the past from their certain deaths? Is it really saving them? What is the correct timeline if time travel keeps changing what happened? Should you travel back into your own timeline?

• It was also interesting that the narrator had basically fallen in love with a historical figure that she had researched in the past and then had the chance to meet him and get to know him. Graham calls her out on it later in the book.

• Graham and the narrator have a torrid romance towards the end of the novel. It was slightly awkward to listen to it on audiobook, but luckily, I could skip ahead.

• It was interesting that the future has different ways it could end. It’s really a loop from the future to the past that those from the future are trying to alter.

• I enjoyed the friendship between the time travelers.

Overall, I enjoyed The Ministry of Time. It was a unique novel with a great story, characters, romance, and mystery. I felt myself caring for both Graham and the narrator and wishing there was a book two.

The Ministry of Time is one of the most original premises for a book I've read in a long time. It's one of those books you read and you just know it's going to be the book that everyone is talking about this summer. It's a great mix of light science fiction, historical fiction, and romance, so I feel like it has something for almost any reader.

Blessed to be alive at the same time as Kaliane Bradley, and to be able to experience the miracle of this book.

Ministry of Time was a swift kick in the pants for my reading slump—truly, it made me WANT to read again. I finished it in essentially two sittings that were separated by a week of travel, but the distance just made my heart grow fonder. I have a known soft spot for time travel romance (This is How You Lose the Time War, I'm looking at you), but with how funny, smart and well-developed Ministry was, it's still a winner in the broader sci-fi space.

Thank you to Avid Reader Press for the opportunity to read and review, and for sending me a physical copy to annotate to my heart's content! <3

I grew up watching science fiction with my dad. So, I have a soft spot for a good time travel story. Back to the Future anyone? The main character in this one gave me some trouble. She comes across a bit dense and self-centered.

But I enjoyed the characters overall, and personally I did not see the twist at the end coming! I also like that the ending leaves the full conclusion to the imagination.

I've been reading this book for over a week and I've only made it 48% of the way through. I'm finally giving it up because the torture is killing me! Slow story, convoluted writing, words I've never seen before...I'm done. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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I wanted to know more about the actual time travel and why they chose the people they did. Instead, the book focuses on one person who doesn't have much information, so we don't either. I tapped out at the sex scene. With less romance and more spy thriller entrigue, I could have liked it, but as-is, it just wasn't for me.

When I first came across the blurb for *The Ministry of Time*, my curiosity was piqued, and it instantly became one of my most eagerly awaited releases of the year. I was not let down! *The Ministry of Time* offers a novel twist on time travel narratives by emphasizing how people from the past adapt and assimilate into modern culture. This setup provides an excellent framework to delve into important topics such as racism, colonization, feminism, gender equality, religion, and climate crises, all while delivering plenty of humour.

The prose was captivating, beautifully crafted, and infused with British wit that had me laughing out loud multiple times. The characters were compelling and lovable, written in a way that made me genuinely care about their successful adaptation and happiness.

This was an outstanding debut, and I look forward to reading more from Kate in the future.

Time travel, espionage, romance, even race and gender relations, this book covers a lot of themes. "The Ministry of Time" is a very original concept. A small group of people from history, on the brink of death, are brought forward to "modern day" London. They are each assigned a bridge to acclimate to their current circumstances. Most of these bridges, especially our unnamed main character, didn't even know what they were applying for until they were accepted because of the extreme secrecy around the project. Every character is flawed and Kaliane Bradley makes her main characters appear so real and human. When two of them fall into a relationship, it is messy and not the air brushed romance typical of so many stories. I love time travel stories, even when they make my brain hurt, and this book is no exception. It took a while for the twists to start coming, but they sure did.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy. My opinion is my own.

The book was chosen purely based on its cover and might possibly be my favorite book of the year. A historical time drama with a mystery wrapped in a romance. I truly did not know what to expect and by the second day could not put it down. I appreciate the author’s note that gives context for the story. It really showed how this idea blossomed into such a beautiful piece of fiction. I am relatively new to the sci-if genre and am sure that there will be many comparisons for time cops, etc. but the end reminded me a lot of Eternal Sunshine, where actions and consequences start to matter exponentially more and every little thing feels precious. Above all, this is a love story. I really enjoyed this book.

I was really looking forward to reading this book, as it was advertised as a rom com meets sci-fi book. I wouldn't call this a rom-com. But it was definitely a sci-fi. Something about the way the book was written was really off-putting, and felt a little passive. However, about 75% into the book, I found myself sucked into what was happening, and by the end I decided that if Bradley wrote another book in this universe, I would buy and read it.

I think I really liked this book, but I might have to give it another read to be sure. It's a mashup of time-travel sci-fi, spy novel, romance, and (I suspect) memoir, held together by a strange, edgy sadness that haunted me beautifully while reading the book and that now, after finishing, feels like its main affect. There are some weird and jarring similes in this one, and the prose is often overwrought. While the amount of historical detail, degree of character development, and immersiveness of the world-building are truly impressive, I'm not giving The Ministry of Time five stars since, well, I had trouble teasing out the implications of the spy-and-time-travel plot due to aforementioned overwrought-ness. I had trouble following the narrator's motives, particularly her relationship to state power--and, by extension, to white supremacy, empire, and, ultimately, Graham--only that she appears to be complicit with it for, like, the whole novel. Mostly, I vibed on her melancholy. The ending felt blurry.

I loved this genre mashup. I was hesitant because I don’t read sci-fi and was pleasantly surprised to find that this was just the perfect blend of fantasy, romance, dystopian fiction. It was a pleasure to read and I’m in love with Graham Gore, as I’m sure anyone who has read this book is as well. Such a gem!

"The Ministry of Time" by Kaliane Bradley is a slow-burner time traveling extravaganza!

A fun read about a woman who is tasked by the Ministry to help Commander Graham Gore navigate life in modern day time. "The Ministry of Time" had a lot of interesting aspects which sometimes made the story feel crowded but in the end this is a great book about one of the most beloved science-fiction themes: time travel.

I would recommend this story to fans of science fiction, "The Cloisters", and readers who are looking for a story about time-travel.

Thanks to Avid Reader Press and Netgalley for the arc.

Thanks to Avid Reader Press/Simon&Schuster and Netgalley for the ARC and thank you to the author Kaliane Bradley.

The Ministry of Time - part spy thriller, time travel mystery, and surprisingly sexy slow burn romance - posits the deceptively simple question: What would the world look like if the British government got its hands on time travel tech?

Here we meet a civil servant tasked with acting as a bridge between past and present for an 19th century naval captain - introducing him to spotify, weed, and motorcycles while absolutely crossing the lines of appropriate work assignment behavior.

The ministry and their end goal is shrouded in mystery and conspiracy- you know everyone in the project is a pawn in some way - but you explore the ethics of power and complicity from the cocoon of an unlikely camaraderie and affectionately doomed romance.

Though there is a lot to like about this book (Kaliane Bradley sets a scene with accuracy and mirth, equating London in late august to a used tea bag made me genuinely laugh out loud), I did find parts a bit uneven.

The timey-whimey (yes an official dictionary and literary term) bits in the end left me a bit confused. I’m not totally sure where that leaves us in terms of timelines or futures, but by that point I was kind of smitten by Commander Gore and his rag tag group of expats, and I hope they find peace in whatever world they make for themselves

This one is sure to provoke some internal questioning about our collective future which will spill over into conversations you’ll be dying to have.

4.5 stars, rounded down.

This was such a fun read! It was well written and more emotional than I expected and while I had complicated feelings about most characters, I was rooting for them the entire time. I love the genre-bending nature of the story—it will appeal to a wide range of readers.

There is a small deduction in the rating for some pacing issues and a twist that wasn’t as surprising as it should have been. That said, I highly enjoyed it and look forward to reading more from this author.

Wow! This was great! I love anything to do with time travel. This book, was so original and creative. I loved how there were so many different genres, including sci fi, romance and mystery. It’s even a bit twisty, with a plot you never see coming. As I read this book I could imagine the mini series adaptation. I really hope they do one. This was n excellent red nd I look forward to more from the author.